An assessment by a scientific body set up by the eight Arctic rim countries has projected that global mercury emissions could grow by 25% by 2020 if no action is taken to control such emissions, posing a threat to polar bears, whales, and seals and the... Read More

By Steven M. Siros, Partner, Jenner & Block Under U.S. EPA's current audit policy, companies that self-disclose environmental violations may be entitled to the elimination or reduction of penalties for non-compliance. However, U.S. EPA recently... Read More

ENVIRONMENT: ILLINOIS Gov. Pat Quinn (D) vetoes SB 3442, which would have required plastic bag manufacturers to set up collection and recycling programs and barred local municipalities from establishing their own plans (QUAD-CITY TIMES). • The U... Read More

By Dianne Saxe, Ontario Environmental Lawyer Advisors to US Energy Secretary, Stephen Chu, have recommended major changes to improve regulation and environmental performance of shale gas fracturing (fracking) in the US. Public consultation is continuing... Read More

EPA has released rule changes that will require oil and gas drillers that use hydraulic fracturing to use new or improved processes and equipment in an attempt to reduce the level of volatile organic compounds (VOC's) and other air pollutants emitted... Read More

By Katerina E. Milenkovski , Of Counsel, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC During the past several months, Ohio EPA has been working to determine what, if any, air pollution requirements apply to well-site operations in the oil and gas industry - in particular... Read More

By Brian H. Potts Have you ever wondered what all those additional charges are on your electric bill? This month my bill lists a “Customer Charge,” a “2013 Fuel Adjustment” and a “State-Wide Low-Income Assistance Fee... Read More

On September 20, 2013, U.S. EPA rescinded its first attempt and proposed new rules to establish New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), i.e. , national emission limits, for carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emitted from new electric power plants. EPA's proposed... Read More

The US Environmental Protection Agency has won an important court victory that may help clean the air in Ontario. About half of the air pollution in southern Ontario blows in from the US, mostly from coal-fired power generation stations. The EPA has been... Read More

As noted in prior posts, EPA has proposed national standards for mercury and other toxic pollutant emissions from power plants. See http://www.epa.gov/airquality/powerplanttoxics/ . Now Guam and 25 states have filed a challenge to the regulations. The... Read More

The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that a reference method stack test showing that an air contaminant source is exceeding emission standards creates a rebuttable presumption that the source is in continuing noncompliance with emission standards, State,... Read More

On January 24, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit refused to rehear a decision of a three-judge panel of the court that overturned EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule ("CSAPR"). CSAPR addressed the interstate... Read More

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has vacated a USEPA memorandum aimed at limiting the reach of S ummit Petroleum Corp. v. USEPA , (6th Cir. Aug 7, 2012), [ enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers ], a case which... Read More

The federal government has proposed a major set of new air pollution regulations to reduce industrial-source air pollution, starting with performance standards for the cement sector and two equipment types: gaseous-fuel-fired non-utility boilers/ heaters... Read More

By Dustin Till, Associate, Marten Law Group PLLC "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published a new rule, Federal Implementation Plans: Interstate Transport of Fine Particulate Matter and Ozone and Correction of SIP Approvals, 76... Read More